Black History: Special Delivery!!
African American Inventor Kenneth Dunkley (1939- ) created 3D glasses in 1986.
Sources:
http://fenomlife.com/black-history-month-inventor-kenneth-j-dunkley-3-d-viewing-glasses-holography/
http://www.black-inventor.com/Kenneth-Dunkley.asp
Black History: Special Delivery!!
Christina Jenkins is credited with inventing the sew in hair weave technique. The process of adding in hair extensions was centuries old. Jenkins improved on these techniques by creating a process of sewing in hair extensions rather than pinning them to the scalp. While employed by a wig maker in 1949, Jenkins became aware that customers often complained that their wigs would fall off their heads frequently. She began to explores ways to rectify this concern. Jenkins sew in technique was considered revolutionary when it was first introduced. She obtained a patent in 1951 for the process. Her technique was extremely popular with clients and cosmetologists. Jenkins traveled the world sharing her technique. The technique she used was a very lengthy process.
Jenkins opened the “Hairweev Academy” to train licensed cosmetologists. People came from all over the country to be trained in the technique. She offered the cosmetologists that she trained franchising opportunities to use the technique. However, many students did not fulfil the financial obligations of the franchise agreement. As a result, Jenkins quickly lost control of her invention and personal finances began to suffer. She attempted to take legal action against these individuals. However, Jenkins lacked the finances she needed to do so and was unable to continue running the business.
The sale of hair extensions is currently a billion dollar industry. There are many different hairweaving techniques today. Her invention was a game changer for the hair industry. Christina Jenkins died in 2003.
Black History: Special Delivery!!
Less than 8% of car dealerships are owned by women. That number is only 1% for the number of dealerships owned by black women. However, women influence over 85% of the auto purchases. Ellenae Fairhurst has made history in Huntsville, AL becoming the first African American woman to own a Lexus dealership. She accomplished this mile stone in the early 1990’s!! A native of Dayton, OH, she started her career in the auto industry as a secretary at Ford Motor Company in 1968 in Detroit, MI. Fairhurst attended Miami University in Ohio. After graduation, she moved to Detroit and began her career with Ford. She had originally been selected to participate in Ford’s management training program but after finding out that she had recently been married, they did not permit her to participate in the management training program. Fairhurst held a number of positions throughout her 17 year tenure with Ford.
In 1988 she opened her first dealership. Fairhurst sought out the opportunity at a time when many corporate professionals were being downsized. Fairhurst became aware of Ford’s dealership training program. She found it very difficult to get information on how she could be considered for participation. However she was supported in her efforts by several African American dealers. Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful in entering the dealership program at Ford, but was able to enter the dealership training program for Chrysler. Her first Chrysler dealership was it in Fayetteville, NC opened in 1988 was very successful. Fairhurst was able to pay off her dealership in 8 years which is nearly half the time (15 years) that it would normally take to do so. To enter the dealing training program, you had to prove that she had $50k of disposable income. The actual cost of her first dealership was $150k. Ford had an employee stock purchase program which had a company match. Fairhurst participated in this program and was able to use these funds to help fund her efforts to purchase the Chrysler dealership. Most of the remaining funds for the dealership purchase came from severance pay she received after being down-sized from Ford.
Fairhurst believes that most women have an innate ability to be excellent entrepreneurs. Fairhust identifies some of her challenges in owning her first dealership as being lack of access to information and opportunity as well as constantly being told what she could not do. While dealers of color did eventually did make inroads in owning main line dealerships, there was not much progress in owning luxury dealerships. Fairhurst left her Chrysler dealership to come to acquire an Infiniti dealership in Huntsville, AL. This was also a milestone for Fairhurst as she was the first African American woman to acquire an Infiniti car dealership in the 1990’s. She is now the owner both the owner of two luxury dealerships in Alabama (Infiniti and Lexus)
Click the link to hear an interview with Ellenae Fairhurst
https://soundcloud.com/auto-trends-with-jeffcars
Black History: Special Delivery!!
Janet Emerson Bashen received a technology patent in 2006. She is President, Founder, and CEO of Bashen Technologies. Bashen saw a need to help employers with EEO tracking and reporting to more effectively respond to discrimination complaints filed by employees. She knew that when discrimination claims were filed against companies, paperwork was often lost and took a long time to process. She created a web based software platform to help employers track this info and streamline their reporting processes.
Continue reading “Janet Emerson Bashen: Software Pioneer”
Black History: Special Delivery!!
Angela Courtney, a 2015 Ph.D graduate of the University of California, Davis has developed a new test to detect invasive breast cancer! She developed the test shortly after being diagnosed with breast cancer herself. Courtney was determined to develop a test that would detect breast cancer without the risk or cost of mammograms. Continue reading “New Test To Detect Breast Cancer Developed By Breast Cancer Survivor Angela Courtney”
African American Physicist, Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green, awarded $1.1M grant to develop her patent-pending cancer treatment technology. Click the link to learn more!
Black History: Special Delivery!!
The phenomenal women featured in this photo have all impacted society. Do you know who they are? If so comment, and share your response! Answer will be posted at 6pm EST. Continue reading “Can You Name These Powerful Women?”
Black History: Special Delivery!!
Black Mail Fast Fact: On December 23, 1919, Alice H. Parker, an African American inventor from Morristown, NJ received a patent for her design of a gas heating furnace. It was not the first furnace of its kind. But it was a substantial improvement on the original design. Parker’s design would play an important role in providing centralized heating to millions of homes and buildings worldwide. Continue reading “Alice H. Parker: African American Inventor Of A Gas Heating Furnace”
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